Soviet battleship Arkhangelsk
The Soviet battleship ''Arkhangelsk'' (Russian: Архáнгельск), is a battleship of the Soviet Northern Fleet of the Soviet Navy, named after the city of Arkhangelsk. Originial built for the Imperial Russian Navy, she was built at the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad (Petrograd). She were laid down in 1914, launched in 1915 and commissioned on 1916, to serve as flagship for the Soviet Baltic Fleet during the World War I. She never saw action during her service in the Baltic Sea, so she spent her time to train her crew the last years of the war. During the October Revolution, Arkhangelsk and her crew joined the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin. During the Russian Civil War, Arkhangelsk were involved in the Kronstadt rebellion, there she supported the Bolsheviks in 1921. But she was damaged and later captured by Entente troops. When the Allied troops withdrew from the Soviet Union, the Soviets recaptured her. She was then sent to Kronstadt for repairs. During the late 1920s, she underwent an modernization programme and reconstruction, her hull were very enlarged and this transformed Arkhangelsk to a very powerful battleship and became the largest ship of the Soviet Navy with her 290 meters (887 feet) after she was reconstructed in 1939. She and the Soviet battleship Novorossiysk were the largest ships in the Soviet Navy before the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During the World War II, Arkhangelsk were involved in the Winter War in Finland and then stationed at Kronstadt until 22 June 1941, when Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union and Great Patrioitc War started. Arkhangelsk was sent to Leningrad to give support to the Soviet troops that fought Wehrmacht during the Siege of Leningrad that lasted for 900 days. She also supported and gave firepower to the Soviet forces in Sevastopol during the Siege of Sevastopol (1941-1942), and were docked there until the city fell in the summer of 1942. She returned to Kronstadt there she were docked until 1944 after the fall of Sevastopol. On 30 May 1944 Arkhangelsk left her dock in Kronstadt and sailed for Great Britain to escort the convoy JW 59. The ship left Britain on 17 August 1944 as part of the escort for the convoy JW 59, which contained thirty-three merchant vessels. Six days later, while still en route, the convoy was attacked by the U-boat U-711. The submarine's captain incorrectly reported hits on Arkhangelsk and a destroyer, though his torpedoes had exploded prematurely. Under the impression that they had crippled the battleship, the Germans launched several submarine attacks on the ship while she was moored in Kola. Anti-torpedo nets ensured that the attacks failed, however. The Germans then planned to use six Biber midget submarines to attack the ship, but mechanical difficulties eventually forced the cancellation of the plan. Regardless, Arkhangelsk had already departed Kola to patrol the White Sea by the time the Biber''s would have arrived. A Soviet crew commissioned the ship on 29 August 1944 at Polyarny. ''Arkhangelsk was the largest ship in the Soviet fleet during the war. While in Soviet service, she was the flagship of Admiral Gordey Levchenko and was tasked with meeting Allied convoys in the Arctic Ocean and escort them into Kola. Arkhangelsk ran aground in the White Sea in late 1947; the extent of damage, if any, is unknown. The Soviet Navy returned the ship to Kronstadt on 4 February 1949 for repairs, at the same time as the Soviet battleship Novorossiysk was transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet. The Soviet Navy had initially sought to avoid sending the ship back, claiming that she was not sufficiently seaworthy to make the voyage back to the Soviet Union. After an inspection by a Soviet Navy officer, however, the Soviet Navy agreed to return the vessel in January 1949. Upon returning to the Soviet naval base at Kronstadt, Soviet Navy personnel thoroughly inspected the ship and found much of her equipment to be unserviceable. It appeared to the inspectors that the main battery turrets had not been rotated while the ship was in Soviet service, and were jammed on the centreline. As a result of her poor condition, she underwent an another modernization and reconstruction programme. Category:Soviet battleships